Column and beam.



J'. H. CAMPBELL.

' COLUMN AND BEAM.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 28, 1909.

Patented Jan. 24, 1911.

IINITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH H. CAMPBELL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

COLUMN AND BEAM.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH H. CAMPBELL, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Columns and Beams, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

This invention relates to improvements in columns and beams, and particularly the former, for the purposes of upright structures such as towers and lookouts for various purposes, poles, tree guards, posts, etc., for

their varlous uses, the outer and sustaining walls of which are formed into an 0 en fabric, by means of twisted wires or r0 s-such structures being preferably circular in cross section.

More specifically stated this invention relates to improvements upon the structure shown and described in Letters Patent No. 535,161, granted me March 5, 1895, for metallic column, pole, &c., in which columns, poles, &c., are constructed from wires, the mesh of which is tetragonal in form and produced by interlocking twists in the same direction between adjacent wires. Towers, columns, poles and posts, when so constructed, are both operative and useful when subjected to ordinary compressive or lateral strains, but when subjected to unusual compressive or lateral strains a limbering or loosening of the twists is produced creating a tendency of the structure to collapse, for the reason that there is no torsion of resistance produced in a mesh of wires when twisted together in the same direction throughout the structure.

The prime object of this invention, broadly stated, is a column or beam, and particularly the former, adapted for use as a tower or lookout for various purposes, poles and posts for their various uses, constructed from a reticulated fabric in which the meshes are tetragonal in form and constructed by means of wires, tubes or rods twisted together in such a manner that all the meshes are positively locked, so that when said columns, &c., are subjected to unusual compressive or lateral strain the locked twists will stiffen and tighten, and thereby successfully prevent any tendency of the structure to collapse or even bend to a dangerous degree, or to any degree preventing its returning to its normal position in Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 28, 1909.

Patented Jan. 24:, 1911.

Serial No. 504,663.

stantly it is relieved from such compressive or lateral strain, or either, as may be.

Most specifically stated, the object of my invention is to construct columns, towers, poles and posts, etc., from andby means of wires, rods, tubes or bars in which every successive twist, by which they are con nected together, is twisted in opposite direction, a torsion put into each of the four sides of the tetragonal shaped mesh and in such a manner that these opposing torsions pull in opposite directions and look each twist, and that the strain of the torsion tightens the twist and thereby stiffens them and the structure throughout when the structure is subjected to a compressive or lateral strain.

A further object of my invention is a column, etc., formed from elastic or spring metal wires, rods, tubes or bars twisted together in the form of a reticulated structure having meshes tetragonal in form, with locking twists between adjacent wires, etc., and so constructed that the metal in each section of the mesh is under the perpetual tensile strain of opposing torsions, whereby when the structure is subjected to compressive or lateral strains, distorting it from its normal plane, it will resume its normal position immediately such compressive or lateral strain is removed, and for the reason that the torsion put into the material during the construction of the column has the same effect upon the twists and the sides of the mesh as the torsion put into the ma terial of a tetragonal shaped spiral spring when under a compressive strain.

l'Vith these ends in View, my invention finds embodiment in certain features of novelty in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts by which the said objects and certain other objects are hereinafter attained, all as fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings, and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In said drawings: Figure 1 illustrates an elevation of a column embodying my invention shown in the form of a telegraph pole. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail of the sustaining walls of said column showing the forma tion of the locked tetragonal mesh thereof. Fig. 3 is a detailed section on the line 3--3 of Fig. 2-looking in the direction of the arrows; and, Fig. 4 is a similar section on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2 in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Similar characters of reference indicate the same parts in the several figures of the drawings.

5 indicates a column embodying my invention, and, as illustrated, is in the form of a telegraph post provided with a metal base 6 adapted to hold it in the ground, the wires, rods or bars from which the column is made being divided as indicated at 7 and bound at their upper ends by wires 8 after being bent to an openlike structure best sustaining telegraph crossbars 9.

In carrying out my invention any number of wires, rods or bars may be twisted to form the open locked mesh hereinafter described, the number of wires, rods or bars for this purposebeing determined by the size of mesh, the size of wires, and the diameter of the column to be formed, and which, in practice, are preferably circular in cross sectionbut may be angular.

The formation of a complete mesh requires four wires, two of which are twisted together at the four corners of the mesh, and :with this understanding my invention is clearly and fully disclosed in Figs.'2, 3, and 4 of the drawings, in Fig. 2 of which there are, four distinct wires 10, 11, 12 and 13, the wires 10 and 11 being twisted together at 14, the wires 10 and 12 at 15, the wires 12 and 13 at 16 and the wires 11 and 13 at 17 in such a manner that every successive course of twists in each wire, rod, tube or bar, as may be, is twisted in the opposite direction as will now be described.

Starting with the wires 10 and 11, one complete twist 14 is made in which the wire 10 first passes under the adjacent straight portion of the wire 11, then over the twist in the wire 11 under the straight portion of the wire 11 forming the lower left hand side of the tetragonal mesh, the wire 10 thence extending to and over a wire 12 between which and the wire 10 is a twist 15, the wire 10 passing under the wire 12 at the twist and thence over the straight portion of the wire forming the right hand side of a tetragonal mesh and so on from which it will be seen that the wire 10 is thereby continued to the right and is passed under and twisted to the next wire (not shown) as indicated at 14, and extending thence to a second wire is passed under the same and twisted therewith as indicated at 15.

From the foregoing, it will now be understood that as the wire 10 is projected upwardly in the mesh its direction is spiral to the column, and that if the length or height of the column is continued far enough it will finally encircle it. In other words, the same two wires forming any twist will twist, in a position diametrically opposite their starting point, and passing thence onward will have a third meeting and twist, on completing the circumference of the structure. \Vire 11, beginning at its lower end, passes over the wire 10, then under the twist at 14 and over the wire 10 continuing to the left and at the twist 17 passes under a wire 13 over the twist in the same and under the wire 13 whence it continues to the left in an upwardly spiral line and is twisted wit-l1 other wires in the same manner before described withreference to the wire 10. ire 13 first passes over, the wire 11 thence under its twisted portion, then over the adjacent straight portion of the wire 11 and thence to the wire 12 thereby forming the upper left hand side of the tetragonal mesh and passing under the wire 12 over its'twist at 16 and thence under the wire 12 to other wires where it is twisted to them as before described with reference to the wires 10, 11 and 12, and like the wire 10continues to the. right and spirally of the column. When a column or beam is thus formed and in which every successive course oftwists in the wires, rods or bars are twisted in the opposite direction, a torsion is put into each of the four sect-ions of the tetragonal shaped mesh, and these opposing torsions thereby pull in opposite directions, locks each twist so formed and tightens the twists at the four corners of the mesh when the structure thereby preventing the twists from limber-- ing or loosening and making the full value of the material effective against compressive or lateral strain up to the value of their tensile strength and the crushing strength of the material used in the structure, and therefore if there is sufficient elasticity or spring in the material used, the structure would al-- low several degrees of distortion from its plane and will resume its normal position upon the strain being removed. The torsion thus put into the material has the same efiect upon the twist or juncture and the sides of the mesh as has the torsion which is put into a tetragonal shaped spiral spring when under a compressive strain.

In my Patent No. 535,161, the twists between the wires to form a tetragonal mesh are all in the same direction, that is to say, the wire 10 would have the same twist at 15 that it has at 14, or, in other words, is first passed under the wire 15 instead of over it as in my present invention, and so on, in like manner, with regard to every successive wire with which the wire can be successively twisted, the result being that when the structure is bent or deflected by compressive or lateral strain one side of the column is lengthened and the other is shortened, and the disposition of the individual wires is such that, on the side of the column opposite that receiving the strain, the compression will slack and unscrew the twists with the result that the column will not resume its original plane when this lateral strain or compression thereon is removed. On the other hand, by my present invention the re sult produced by these compressive or lateral strains is to tighten the twists on both sides of the column whereby is prevented any slack in the wires. Columns when constructed in accordance with my invention are light and strong and offer but a minimum resistance to air pressure from high winds, and are, therefore, especially desirable for telegraph poles, fence posts, towers and lookouts for various purposes, and particularly for lookouts for towers, and for battle ships, because not so liable to be entirely destroyed alndnfatally to their occupants by shot and S16 Having described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. A column like structure comprising in combination members composed of wlres, rods, or bars in reticulated arrangement, and twists therein lockin and uniting adjacent members and individiially tightening every wire when subjected to compressive or lateral strains, substantially as described.

2. A column like structure comprising in combination members composed of wires, rods, or bars in reticulated arrangement, locking means uniting adjacent members, which said locking means when subjected to compressive or lateral strain individually tighten, and simultaneously therewith subject every wire, rod, or bar throughout the structure to a tensile strain, substantially as described.

3. A column like structure composed of wires, rods, or bars in reticulated arrange- 1110115 and diagonally disposed with reference to each other, twists uniting adjacent members thereof, each alternate twist in every wire being in opposite directions, substantially as described.

at. A column like structure composed of wires, rods, or bars in reticulated arrangement with the meshes thereof tetragonal in form, twists uniting adjacent wires at the four corners of said meshes, which twists in each wire are alternately in the opposite directions and diagonally with reference to the length of the structure whereby each of the four sections of said mesh is subject to a torsion strain when the structure is in its normal plane, and every member is tightened when the structure is subject to a compressive or lateral strain or strains, substantially as described.

5. A column like structure the members of which are composed of wires, rods, or bars in reticulated arrangement, the meshes of which are tetragonal in form, lockin twists uniting adjacent members, which said twists alternate in the opposite directions in the same wire, and with said wire extending in a spiral like path about the column from one end toward the other, substantially as described.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal, this 24th day of June, A. D. 1909.

Witnesses:

F. E. BRoM, CHARLES I. COBB. 

